Happiness

5 Ways to Feel Happier as You Face Daily Challenges

Learning to choose happiness strategies that are a good fit for you.

Posted November 3, 2025 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Key points

Even among life’s daily challenges, happiness is a choice.
Research indicates that strategies such as self-compassion and social connection can improve happiness.
The person-activity fit concept suggests choosing activities that align with your preferences and strengths.

It’s not too late to bring greater happiness into your day-to-day living.

Daily life is filled with ups and downs, wins and losses, feeling good and feeling not-so-good. Yet, according to experts, even amidst the strains of each day, happiness is a choice.

Abundant research by psychologists has discovered that there are simple activities that can increase happiness. Many of them are easy, inexpensive, and easily practiced and learned (Nelson, Kurtz, & Lyubomirsky, 2015).

This sounds so simple, and yet for many of us, experiencing happiness sometimes feels elusive. The road to greater happiness is just not that obvious to many of us, especially in challenging times. That’s why it can be helpful to think in terms of moments of happiness—learning to find contentment and pleasure in briefer moments of happiness. A moment of joy here, a moment of laughter or pleasure there, a moment of self-kindness, a moment of meaningful conversation, etc.

Around the beginning of the 21st century, psychological researchers began a more intensive focus on the keys to happiness and what practices support what is often called subjective well-being (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

What psychologists continue to discover may surprise you. You may think that happiness is mostly available to other people—perhaps those who have a better life, better health, or more money. But, generally speaking, this is not accurate. Rather, research indicates that strategies to improve happiness can be effective for lots of us—for example, even people who are feeling emotionally or physically unwell (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006).

There are lots of research-informed ways to engage in positive activities and gain benefits. One way to improve your odds is called person-activity fit (Lynn, O’Donahue, & Lilienfeld, 2015; Nelson, Kurtz, & Lyubomirsky, 2015).

The concept of person-activity fit suggests the benefit of choosing activities, tasks, or roles that align with your activity preferences, strengths, skills, motivations, etc. For example, if you want to engage in more movement and also enjoy nature, walking outside or using the treadmill while viewing videos of the outdoors may be more pleasant and effective for you than going to a gym. If you want to increase your connections with others and value social action, you might prefer to volunteer with a food pantry or environmental project, rather than playing cards or joining a discussion group.

Here are a few ideas to help you increase happy moments in your daily life. You might consider experimenting with practices that feel like a good person-activity fit for you.

Be kind to yourself. One of my favorite practices was developed by psychologist Shauna Shapiro, Ph.D., based on science-informed ideas from her work (Shapiro, 2020; 2022). Shapiro reminds us that what we pay attention to gets stronger, reinforced in our intention and awareness. Her simple practice of self-compassion goes like this:

Place your hand on your heart and notice the experience of your heart nourishing and taking care of you.
As you are ready, gently breathe and say to yourself, “Good morning, I love you [your name].”
Then gently notice how you feel.
Shapiro suggests practicing this each morning and then jotting down a phrase about how you feel in your journal (2022).

Increase moments of social connection and relationships. This can be as simple as saying hello to others more frequently. Call someone, or send text messages or emails. Check in on how someone is doing, express thanks, or have a chat.

Just enjoy the moment. Pause and pay attention to something positive at this very moment. Even for just a moment.

Notice something positive. Invite yourself to recognize something positive that happened today or that you were able to accomplish. Take a moment to notice and appreciate it.

Utilize your strengths. Rather than trying to fix your weaknesses, take some time to identify and use your strengths (Niemiec, 2014). What are you good at? What do you love to do? How can you use that strength today or this week?

How might you want to experiment with bringing a few more moments of happiness into your everyday life that are a good fit for you?

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. No content is a substitute for consulting with a qualified mental health or healthcare professional.

References

Emmons, R.A. and McCullough, M.E., (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 84(2), 377–389.

Lynn, S. J., O'Donohue, W. T., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (Eds.). (2015). Health, Happiness, and Well-Being: Better Living Through Psychological Science. Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483385822

Nelson, S.K., Kurtz, J.L, & Lyubomirsky, S. (2015). What psychological science knows about achieving happiness. In S.J. Lynn, W. O’Donohue & Lilienfeld (Eds.). Health, Happiness, and Well-Being: Better Living Through Psychological Science (pp. 250–271). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

Niemiec, R.M. (2014). Mindfulness & Character Strengths: A Practical Guide to Flourishing. Boston, MA: Hogrefe.

Seligman, M.E.P. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5–14.

Seligman, M. E., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 61(8), 774.

Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410–421.

Shapiro, S. (2020). Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy. Boulder, CO: Sounds True.

Shapiro, S. (2022). Good Morning, I Love You: A Guided Journal for Calm, Clarity + Joy. Boulder CO: Sounds True.